When I was a child, Vijay Dashmi meant- our annual excursion to Parade ground in our city to watch the enormous effigy of Ravana get burnt; my dad would buy us toys at Dussehra fair; I remember eating hot fresh jalebees. Vijay Dashmi meant all of the above. Especially after I lost my dad, I always remember this time with lot of nostalgia and his remembrance.

As I got older, in India it just meant a day off. We stopped going to Dussehra fair as we got busy with professional schools. I missed it though.

The meaning became deeper only after I became student of Vedanta. Now it serves as a reminder to fight the Ravana within me which rears it’s ugly ten heads all the time and gets deluded and confused with these 10 heads wanting to go different ways following senses and desires. It gives me hope, as Ravana got liberated, so can a lost mortal like me; it is the victory of Shreyas over preyas.

In this game of life, I will be a true winner if I keep Lord with me in my thoughts and during all my actions.

True victory is winning my own Self! One day I hope and pray to celebrate the true essence of Vijay Dashmi….. until then I keep trying to defeat the Ravana within me.

Sometimes he pushes me; brings me down but then-

When the world pushes you to your knees, you are in a perfect position to pray~ Rumi